Chicago Style Pizza Isn't That Good

I link to this Chicago Pizza fest event only to really say this, Chicago style pizza isn't very good. At least the pizza I had in Chicago. The crust was too sweet, the toppings made the pizza soggy, and sauce was closer to canned spaghetti sauce than anything I'd want on a pizza. I was told by locals that I went to a representative place to eat so I don't think it was "bad" Chicago style pizza. It just seems Chicago isn't my style. PS: I don't get a lot of mid-west food, Cincinnati chili confuses to me to no end as well.

4 Comments

I ate at a pizza joint once right outside the Sears Tower to try out the native style. It wasn't the pizza that I was used to, but it was really good. It was almost like a cross between lasagna and pizza. None of the Chicago Style pizzas I've had since don't really compare.

I don't love Chicago style pizza, either, but the main places (Giordano's, Uno's, Lou Malnati's) are not really regarded as the best deep dish to find in the city. In any case, Chicago style pizza is so filling as to be an impractical food, something you eat once a month at the most.

FWIW, I think there are two pizza joints in my hometown that have better pizza than I've had in Chicago. But there are some great places here, and the thin neopolitan style is all the rage these days.

Is Chicago-style deep dish pizza actually pizza? It's tomato sauce contained in a bowl of buttery cheese-lined shortcake. I like it. But I don't know that it qualifies as pizza as much as it's a savory pie. Not trying to split hairs, but I think I could argue that a deep dish pizza is as much a pizza as a calzone or stromboli.